Pickles Confirms End of Code for Sustainable Homes

Eric Pickles has confirmed that the Code for Sustainable Homes is to be scrapped in his long-awaited conclusion to the Government’s Housing Standards Review. The review aimed to slash the number of standards applied to the construction of new homes with the Government claiming that building new homes to a high standard will become easier and cheaper. Pickles released a statement outlining how the new standards for housing in England which are being introduced as part of the Deregulation Bill will be implemented. Local planning authorities should not set any “additional local technical standards or requirements relating to the construction, internal layout or performance of new dwellings” in their emerging Local Plans, neighbourhood plans, or supplementary planning documents he said. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

‘Revenge Eviction’ Bill Passed

The House of Lords has passed a law banning so-called ‘revenge evictions’. Passed as part of the Deregulation Bill, the new law will prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who complain about conditions in their homes. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather attempted to ban revenge evictions with a private members’ bill last year. Though Teather’s attempt failed, the Lords picked it up and tagged it on to the Deregulation Bill. According to housing charity Shelter, over 200,000 renters face revenge evictions every year. Read more on 24dash.

Landlords Accuse Govt of Political Interference

Landlords are less than happy with Government proposals to strengthen measures to protect tenants against so-called revenge evictions, considering them a politically motivated interference, and even a “charter” for anti-social tenants.  The measures were announced as a series of amendments to the Deregulation Bill. The proposals are intended to tackle retaliatory evictions, where rogue landlords evict tenants for simply asking for essential repairs to be made. The amendments extend the existing restrictions on a landlord’s powers to evict, where they don’t protect a deposit or have a licence they are required to hold, to situations where a health and safety hazard has been identified by environmental health officers. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

New Law A Charter for Anti-Social Tenants

A Government amendment to the Deregulation Bill raises the prospect of landlords being unable to swiftly remove tenants who are failing to pay their rent or committing anti-social behaviour. Under the amendment, landlords would have a Section 21 notice suspended when a tenant makes a written complaint about conditions in a property and a local authority then serves a notice to improve on the landlord. This would make it almost impossible for a landlord to regain possession of their property when a tenant commits anti-social behaviour or fails to pay their rent and the Section 21 notice is served at the same time as the local authority decides to take action on the complaint raised by the tenant. Read more on the Residential Landlords Association website.

MPs Baffled By 'Revenge Evictions' Figures

More should be done to establish the scale of so-called ‘revenge evictions’ before legislation is brought in to tackle the problem, a group of MPs has said. Lib Dem peers have since proposed realising the plans by including them as an amendment to the Deregulation Bill currently being debated in the Lords. But a new report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Private Rented Sector claims that without more evidence it’s still not clear whether legislation is “necessarily the best tool” to tackle the problem. The report reads: “Too often on private rented housing it has become very easy to call for greater regulations here or there without a proper assessment of what is and isn’t working." Read more on 24dash.

Amendment to Deregulation Bill Picks Up Retaliatory Evictions 'Baton'

Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords have tabled an amendment on the Deregulation Bill with the aim of preventing retaliatory evictions, following the defeat of the party’s Tenancies (Reform) Bill. Lib Dem Peers signed the amendment to the Deregulation Bill which, if passed, would:

·         Give six months protection for victims of revenge evictions and for renters living in homes so poor, the council has intervened.

·         Put in place key safeguards and exemptions for law-abiding landlords.

The Deregulation Bill will return to the House of Lords in mid January. Read more on Inside Housing.

End to Outdated Laws Will Allow Londoners to Let Homes for Extra Cash

New measures will end outdated rules from the 1970s preventing London residents from renting out their own homes on a short-term basis to visitors, Eric Pickles has said. Under 40 year old laws dating from the time of the GLC (Greater London Council), Londoners who want to rent out their homes for less than 3 months technically still have to apply for planning permission from the council - something that doesn’t apply anywhere else in the country. These provisions caused controversy during the 2012 Olympics, and are irregularly enforced by different London boroughs leading to confusion.  Ministers now want to change this archaic system through a measure in the Deregulation Bill. Read more on the GovUK website.

Right to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reducing the qualifying period of right to buy from five to three years on the feasibility of local authorities ensuring a replacement of homes sold.  

Kris Hopkins: The Government intends to reduce the qualifying period for the right to buy from five years to three years through the Deregulation Bill. We have produced an impact assessment on this change, including its impact on replacement policy. The impact assessment shows that the change to the qualifying period will enable increased home ownership among social tenants, while ensuring sufficient sales receipts to deliver a new home for each additional home sold under the reinvigorated right to buy nationally. The impact assessment was cleared by the Regulatory Policy Committee on 4 March and will be published on the Deregulation Bill website shortly.

Right to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reducing the qualifying period of right to buy from five to three years on the feasibility of local authorities ensuring a replacement of homes sold. 

Kris Hopkins: The Government intends to reduce the qualifying period for the right to buy from five years to three years through the Deregulation Bill. We have produced an impact assessment on this change, including its impact on replacement policy. The impact assessment shows that the change to the qualifying period will enable increased home ownership among social tenants, while ensuring sufficient sales receipts to deliver a new home for each additional home sold under the reinvigorated right to buy nationally. The impact assessment was cleared by the Regulatory Policy Committee on 4 March and will be published on the Deregulation Bill website shortly:

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/deregulation.html

Right to Buy and Pay to Stay Update

This year's Budget statement included a proposal to reduce the qualifying period for the Right to Buy from 5 to 3 years. This will require an amendment to primary legislation, which has been included in a draft Deregulation Bill published last month. The Bill committee has issued a call for evidence with a deadline for responses of 16 September.  The Government's summary of consultation responses and announcement of next steps on Pay to Stay makes it clear that it has not yet found Parliamentary time to introduce a requirement on high-earning tenants to declare their income, which is generally regarded as the essential underpinning for Pay to Stay schemes where social landlords wish to introduce them.  Read more on the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH) website.

Qualifying Time for Right to Buy Could Be Shortened

A bill proposing a reduction in the qualifying period for right to buy from five to three years is to go before a pre-legislative scrutiny committee.  The controversial proposals are contained in the Draft Deregulation Bill, which is due to appear before a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament imminently. Under the new proposals, social tenants will need to have lived in their homes for three years to qualify to buy their social home rather than the current five years.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Deregulation Bill

As announced in the Queen’s Speech on 8 May, the Deregulation Bill would be part of the Government’s agenda to reduce the burden of excessive or unnecessary regulation where primary legislation is required. The Bill will be published in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. Many other regulations

are being scrapped and reformed either administratively or via secondary legislation.  The Deregulation Bill is of particular interest to housing providers in that it reduces the qualifying period for Right to Buy and Right to Acquire from five years to three years.  The full version of the Queen’s Speech is available at the Parliament website.